🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <C0ABxu.539@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:
>In article <1993Jan2.045416.15301@ringer.cs.utsa.edu> sbooth@lonestar.utsa.edu (Simon E. Booth) writes:
>
>>Concerning public opinion about the space program, IHMO those opinions can
>>and are greatly influenced by the media's depiction of space exploration.
>>Next time watch news coverage of a shuttle flight.  Invariably some reference
>>is made to the cost of that particular mission, plus any important technical
>>information is either watered down or omitted.
>
>>I've had people tell me that the media doesn't cover the space program very
>>much because people aren't interested.
>
>>But here's somethin to think about: did people lose interest and the media
>>reduced it's coverage in response, or did the media cut back coverage and then
>>convince people that they weren't interested in it?
>
>How much interest SHOULD there be in any particular shuttle launch?  If we
>had an adequate space program, there should be not much more interest than
>in a trip of an ocean liner.  As the saying goes, "When man bites dog,
>that's news."
>
>Nor should anyone expect every observation made by a space probe to be
>spectacular.  Any research program will have experiments or observations
>made which are valueless; if we knew what we would find, it would not be
>necessary to look for it, unless we can directly exploit it.
>
>The first landing on the moon was quite properly a big media event, but
>it is not at all surprising that the later ones

Well, I don't mind that every flight nowadays isn't a media event, but I think
the media could at least periodically provide coverage on the overall progress
of a project.

Simon